If I have stepped on some people at times because I am at the top, it couldn't be helped. What should I do if someone gets hurt... retire? #MariaCallas

My Traviata has changed frequently my Norma more or less not much. #MariaCallas

Singers have to go through the same technique as instrumentals; a violinist a pianist or any instrumentalist has to learn his reading and writing. We use our body and vocal chords instead of an instrument. #MariaCallas

I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged. #MariaCallas

There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility. #MariaCallas

Only when I was singing did I feel loved. #MariaCallas

Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules. #MariaCallas

The Metropolitan, like all of the other opera houses, do offer me every year a contract. I would specifically ask for a very fine conductor... lots of rehearsals... #MariaCallas

Some say I have a beautiful voice, some say I have not. It is a matter of opinion. All I can say, those who don't like it shouldn't come to hear me. #MariaCallas

You always have to be the performer and function of the composer that the public will listen to and you must make it success. #MariaCallas

I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity. #MariaCallas

If the last act is not superior to all the rest, well, you might as well not sing it. #MariaCallas

I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not a devil, either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged. #MariaCallas

I don't think much of my talent. Uh, I didn't even think I had a voice... I always used to sing for pleasure. I never even dreamed of having to have a career as a singer. #MariaCallas

All those little notes all the legatos all the everything that comes with music is what you call technique. An instrumentalist knows how to make his notes well with the proper intonation because intonation is also a necessity to technique. #MariaCallas

I don't need the money, dear. I work for art. #MariaCallas

When the curtain rises, the only thing that speaks is courage. #MariaCallas

I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over. #MariaCallas

When my enemies stop hissing, I shall know I'm slipping. #MariaCallas

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there. #MariaCallas

My Traviata has changed frequently my Norma more or less not much. #MariaCallas

It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the sense of projection over a distance as in an opera house. We have this microphone and this magnifies all details of a performance, all exaggerations. #MariaCallas

I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity. #MariaCallas

The critics said that I was tired at the end of Traviata but I took it as a compliment because I struggled to find this tired quality for her and it's dangerous. #MariaCallas

I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged. #MariaCallas

I was always too mature for my age - and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was. #MariaCallas

I don’t like listening to myself – I don’t like the kind of voice I have. #MariaCallas

They have taught me, and life has taught me that the last act is the most important, because, no matter how much and how well you've sung on the very few one or two or three to four first acts. #MariaCallas

When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point. #MariaCallas

I am embarrassed by compliments. I cannot have the same perception of myself as the public has. I cannot judge myself and I have a hard time realizing what I have done. But if you manage to persuade and to thrill the public then you have won. #MariaCallas

We cannot modernize opera too much because as it is, we must accept it, which is old-fashioned. We must give it a bit of fresh air and cut certain lengthy music repetitions. #MariaCallas

What am I? Is she only machines singing? No, she's a human being. I need help too. Life they say is terrible. Of course life is terrible, if we make it that way. #MariaCallas

Real friends are very special, but you have to be careful because sometimes you have a friend and you think they are made of rock, then suddenly you realise they're only made of sand. #MariaCallas

When you learn to really become a musician after a singer, you have to put your instrument to the service of music. #MariaCallas

In other words, sing exactly as it's written, nothing more, nothing less, which is the phrase that I call straight jacketing, faster infinitely strictly how the composer wrote it. #MariaCallas

In the theater, you can get away with a very large, very grand phrase. For the microphone, you have to tone it down. It's the same as making a film, your gestures will be seen in close-up, so they cannot be exaggerated as they would be in a theater. #MariaCallas

The Metropolitan, like all of the other opera houses, do offer me every year a contract. I would specifically ask for a very fine conductor... lots of rehearsals... #MariaCallas

If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears - and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also - you will find every gesture there. And it is all true, you know. #MariaCallas

They have taught me, and life has taught me that the last act is the most important, because, no matter how much and how well you've sung on the very few one or two or three to four first acts. #MariaCallas

You always have to be the performer and function of the composer that the public will listen to and you must make it success. #MariaCallas

I don’t like listening to myself – I don’t like the kind of voice I have. #MariaCallas

The critics said that I was tired at the end of Traviata but I took it as a compliment because I struggled to find this tired quality for her and it's dangerous. #MariaCallas

What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you? #MariaCallas

I belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven’t had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully - through me, a little - the public’s. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose. #MariaCallas

If you really care to look into the music, it was always. We will always find a trill or an embellishment or a scale that justifies an expression of feeling of happiness or unhappiness of uneasiness anxiety. There is always a reason for such thing. #MariaCallas

I don't need the money, dear. I work for art. #MariaCallas

I never lost my voice, but I lost strength in my diaphragm. I lost my bravery and fearlessness. As a result... my voice wobbled because I overstrained it. #MariaCallas

Love is so much better when you are not married. #MariaCallas

Generally speaking all they're interested in is getting their money, put in their costume, singing as best as they can and then go. But that's not my idea of making music. #MariaCallas

What am I? Is she only machines singing? No, she's a human being. I need help too. Life they say is terrible. Of course life is terrible, if we make it that way. #MariaCallas